Tight ends post challenge for UCLA

Nov. 22, 2012

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Stanford tight end Zach Ertz goes up for a catch against USC linebacker Dion Bailey during a game on Sept. 15, Stanford won, 21-14. Ertz has gone from a high school basketball star to Stanford's latest NFL-caliber tight end. FILE PHOTO: MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Stanford tight end Zach Ertz goes up for a catch against USC linebacker Dion Bailey during a game on Sept. 15, Stanford won, 21-14. Ertz has gone from a high school basketball star to Stanford's latest NFL-caliber tight end. FILE PHOTO: MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES - – It was first-and-goal for Stanford last week against Oregon, down by a touchdown, when quarterback Kevin Hogan decided to lob it in the end zone, knowing — or hoping, at least — that one of Stanford's most effective weapons, tight end Zach Ertz, would come down with the ball.

What followed was one of college football's best catches this season, as Ertz reached over the Ducks' defender and pulled down the tying touchdown, giving the Cardinal its biggest play in one of the biggest games in college football this season. But for Stanford, getting big plays out of its tight ends isn't anything new.

Ertz has undeniably been one of the nation's best tight ends, collecting 747 yards and six touchdowns on 58 catches. And for Stanford, he and fellow tight end Levine Toilolo have represented the majority of the passing attack, accounting for 1,124 of 2,330 receiving yards this season. It's truly a system unlike any other in the Pac-12.

So will that change UCLA coach Jim Mora's preparation this week?

"Nothing major," Mora said of making adjustments to Stanford's tight ends. "We've just got to cover them, and we have to win at the ball. What they do a great job of is using their bodies to get in the way, like Joe (Fauria, UCLA tight end) does. You throw it in Joe's general vicinity and he's good at boxing out and going up and getting it. They've got guys that do that as well."

In preparation, Mora said he's played a handful of larger, stronger players at tight end on the scout team offense, hoping to somewhat replicate the effectiveness Ertz and Toilolo bring to Stanford's passing attack.

The sheer amount of play action that Stanford uses also makes planning for tight ends more complex, as UCLA's young defense has yet to see any similar scheme this season. It'll certainly be a challenge for the Bruins on that side of the ball, and Mora understands how difficult elite, athletic tight ends can make things for a secondary.

"If they can get a tight end on the corner, the corner could have great coverage, but it's that size advantage they have," Mora said. "It's hard to come up with something to combat that. You just have to hope your guy can get in position to make a play and or that the pressure can get there and affect the quarterback's throw."

DO PENALTIES MATTER?

Mora is well aware of how penalized the Bruins are. Through 11 games, the Bruins are the most penalized team in the nation. But Mora isn't too concerned about his team's high penalty numbers.

"I'll tell you an interesting statistic about penalties," Mora said. "This is a 20-year study I did on penalties ... the correlation between penalties and not winning games is non-existent. That is a fact over the last 20 years of football. Penalties, in general, don't matter.

"Now, that would be naïve to say certain penalties don't matter because certain penalties certainly do matter. I like the fact that our team plays aggressive. ... It's not something that I'm overly concerned with right now."

DEFENSE DISRESPECTED?

Mora has fielded plenty of questions about Stanford's defense, which ranks No. 2 in the nation against the rush. But are people sleeping on the Bruins' defense?

UCLA is certainly no slouch as one of the nation's best pass-rushing units. Mora said he hadn't heard anything from the media about his defense, which he thinks should be effective against Stanford's pro-style offense.

"All I've heard this week is their offense and their run game, their defense and our offense, our special teams," Mora said. "So I think if there's two units that haven't been talked about this week it's our defense and their special teams, and those will probably be the two units that make the most impact, you know how that goes."

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